Saturday, 31 January 2015

Over the next 4 days I continue our boat trip and after feeding the Fish Eagles, (see yesterday’ post), the boatman took us
to swim and snorkel from enormous rocks. I also climbed onto another island and these
are the shots taken from there. Look out
for the tree growing from rocks. Below
is the Hammerkop and the other birds are Cormorant and a Dove. There was also several Skink Lizard on the island.

Just had to show you this happy pair, still trying to
entice Fish Eagles to come and grab the small fish.

I hope you enjoyed the critters I found around these waters and island.I am linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS.

Thanks for visiting and also many thanks for those who
leave comments.

Friday, 30 January 2015

If you are following my previous posts, you will know my family and myself were on a boat, feeding Fish Eagles and later snorkeled off an island however in this post we are returning from that trip just as the light is fading. Lake Malawi is known as "The Lake of Stars" and it was the most wonderful natural spectacle to witness.

Thursday, 29 January 2015

Once again you will have to think “out of the box” for
these fences in Malawi as many are far away on the land and seen from the boat and I
count the boats as being fenced in! Of course the fish are fenced in by water! These birds below are Reed Cormorants and Hammerkop.

As we passed these men were fishing with very long
lines and you will see that better on the video as well as me trying to photograph the fish beneath the water while we were snorkeling.

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Over the next 4 days I continue our trip on the small boat
and after feeding the Fish Eagles, (see yesterday’ post), the boatman took us
to swim and snorkel from enormous rocks off an island. I also climbed onto another island and these
are the shots taken from there. Look out
for the tree growing from rocks. There is also a video at the end and you will see what my son in law was doing while I was exploring.

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

This post is mainly to show you the VIDEO at the end and give you a little information about the
African Fish Eagle - Haliaeetus vocifer which is 63–73 cm; 2–3.8 kg; and wingspan
1.9 m. All were photographed from a moving small boat!

Adult.
unmistakable; white head, breast and tail contrast with black and chestnut
wings, back and underparts. CLICK HERE to see a previous video and photos of an adult.

Female larger and more extensively white on breast
than male. Juvenile is a motley looking brown-and-white streaked bird that is
easily misidentified.

The
head is mostly white, streaked with brown, with a dark eye stripe; tail is
distinctive – longer than ad's, white with a broad, dark brown terminal bar.
Gradually neatens with age, taking 4–5 years to acquire ad. plumage. Facial
mask may lead to confusion with Western Osprey, but is much larger, with
broader wings, and white tail with dark terminal bar. Voice: Ringing
‘kyow-kow-kow' with head thrown back, given from perches or in flight; male's
call is higher pitched.

Pairs live year-round in territories on large rivers,
lakes, estuaries and lagoons. Preys mainly on fish, but also scavenges at
carcasses, robs nestlings from heronries, catches ducks and other birds, and
steals fish and other prey from storks, pelicans and other water birds.

Monday, 26 January 2015

After my post yesterday regarding the terrible flooding
in Malawi, I thought I would show you some children that I encountered while
staying at Montfort Cottages and I do hope they all survived the flooding. My grandson Daniel even joined in with the dancing at one point much to their delight.

This little band of boys came one evening to play for
us. They stayed about half an hour and
although their singing is not wonderful, they did their best. On the video at
the end, look carefully at what bits and pieces they have made their drum kit from.

As you know from previous posts from Montfort Cottages,
I took an early morning walk along this road and I came upon this little group of
girls. I took a very short video of them singing which I showed them afterwards and your should
have heard all the giggles.

This half built house was overlooking Lake Malawi and had
monkeys climbing all over it which I showed you on a previous post.

I don't think I showed you the B & W shot I took.

This is a peep of Lake Malawi through the large rocks
just beside the half built house.

These are even larger rocks where the Baboons play and in the trees is where I found the Fish
Eagles which I showed you last Tuesday. More about them in tomorrow's post.

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About Me

I have retired from a medical background, as well as teaching a 3 year City and Guilds; and also running a Bed and Breakfast. I have taken up bird watching later in life however I became very enthusiastic from the beginning and was greatly encouraged by other bird watchers. For the past 9 years I have led a bird group in my town and have become a guest speaker on cruise ships talking about Birds around the world. I have travelled quite a bit, in particular to Australia where one of my daughters lives. I have now as many birding friends there as at home in Northern Ireland. I love Nature and being able to share that with others of like mind. I also like photography and do my best to photograph birds although I seem to be also very eclectic in what I photograph and blog these days.
I live in Northern Ireland which is part of the UK and it is a beautiful place to live however I love travelling to see places and birds that I have never seen before.